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August 2016 Moms
jjang27
member
Questions for different OBs
jjang27
member
My OB shares a practice with 4 or 5 other doctors, so when baby decides to arrive, it could be any of them on call. I am starting to rotate my appointments in order to meet them for at least once. Are there some good questions to ask at these appointments?
One thing I can think of right now is to ask them about their philosophy on episiotomy. I've heard some doctors prefer to have a clean cut, and some consider it an unnecessary intervention. I'll probably also ask under what conditions they would decide to use vacuum extraction (if at all).
Anything else you ladies can think of? Thanks in advance!
One thing I can think of right now is to ask them about their philosophy on episiotomy. I've heard some doctors prefer to have a clean cut, and some consider it an unnecessary intervention. I'll probably also ask under what conditions they would decide to use vacuum extraction (if at all).
Anything else you ladies can think of? Thanks in advance!
Re: Questions for different OBs
What would be the point of the questions (like episiotomy). If you don't like their answer, there isn't much you can do about at the time. If you don't want xyz, seems like the best thing would be to tell nurse/hubby/support person to make your wishes known at the time.
In other words, I would get stressed out if the doctor said "I always cut" and I was against it. I would just be stressed the whole time afraid I would get the doc if I didn't like their answer. I would just try to have someone advocate your wishes at the time.
Since you will get whatever doc is on call, I'd just be ready to tell them what my wishes are when the time comes. This is my second OB office that will be delivering me (the practice that delivered DS was also a multiple doctor practice) and I basically just try to chat with them so they *know* me a bit and will hopefully recognize me when they walk into my delivery room!
I look at it differently. To me personally, knowing is always better than not knowing, and I do believe patients are not completely powerless like meat on a chopping board. I do not expect a doctor to say something like "I always cut", but if one does and I am strongly against the procedure, this would be the time to express my wish. I can also alert my support persons to advocate more strongly on my behalf on this particular aspect if it turns out to be that doctor delivering for me when the time comes. Another reason I wanted to ask is to satisfy my curiosity. I want to prompt doctors to share when they think it's necessary (for example, if the baby has a big head and I'm not stretching well, or if they urgently want the baby out faster because of signs of distress, etc.). If the procedure needs to be done, knowing why the doctor chooses to do it (out of medical necessity) would probably help me come to terms with it.
These are a couple of things I could think of right off the top of my head, so they may not be perfect examples.
You could also share what your wishlist is for your birth plan and see how they react.
Also all doctors have preference of how they like to do things but each delivery is so vastly different that they can't say "I would do XYZ in this situation." Because there are so many factors that go into each decision that is made. I wouldn't stress too much over it.
My practice has 4 doctors and a midwife and they also have a practice policy on many things. Therefore I didn't feel the need to question each and every one of them.
I also suggest having a well written birth plan outlining your expectations and providing ahead of time, but also taking a copy to the hospital with you. As a lot of previous posters have said, the doctor is only there for a very short period of time (and sometimes doesn't even make it for the actual delivery). If you're anything like me, my doctor already knows my plans - the nurses are the ones who have never met you and don't know what your plans are.